


MerlinWATGame: Team 4

by EachPeachPearPlum, grumpycakes, MerlinWATMod (ViridianJane), Nebula5030, spellboundreader316



Category: Merlin (TV)
Genre: F/F, F/M, Fluff, Gen, Magic Revealed, Pining, Unrequited Love
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-08-26
Updated: 2018-08-26
Packaged: 2019-07-02 23:03:24
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 6
Words: 2,352
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/15806340
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/EachPeachPearPlum/pseuds/EachPeachPearPlum, https://archiveofourown.org/users/grumpycakes/pseuds/grumpycakes, https://archiveofourown.org/users/ViridianJane/pseuds/MerlinWATMod, https://archiveofourown.org/users/Nebula5030/pseuds/Nebula5030, https://archiveofourown.org/users/spellboundreader316/pseuds/spellboundreader316
Summary: Morgana pines, Gwen is in love, and Arthur finds out.





	1. Art: Grumpycakes

**Author's Note:**

> Here is Team 4, all done! Well done and congratulations to all participants, I hope you guys enjoyed playing!
> 
> Again, a reminder as to how this works: each piece, with the exception of the first, was created based on, and only on, the one before it. This allows for some fun twists and turns by the end of the story!


	2. Fic: EachPeachPearPlum

“There,” Morgana says, sliding a final flower into Gwen’s braid before tying it off with a ribbon in the neatest bow she can possibly manage.  “Let me look at you, then.”

Gwen twists until they’re facing each other, looking up at her with that smile that still makes Morgana’s heart do this silly little flip thing, and Morgana finds herself answering with a smile of her own. It's too soft, too earnest, too _vulnerable_ , but Morgana’s trying to be okay with being vulnerable, at least when it's only Gwen around to witness it; Gwen won't judge her for it, and she definitely won't try to take advantage of any weakness Morgana shows her. Gods, Gwen wouldn't know how to take advantage, even if she wanted to.

“Well,” Gwen says, breaking Morgana from her reverie, and it's only now that Morgana realises she's probably been staring a little longer than is strictly necessary. “How do I look?”

Morgana reaches out, stroking a strand of hair back into place behind Gwen’s ear. “Beautiful,” she answers, and that's also way too sincere. It's probably okay, though, because Gwen is too busy blushing and looking away in embarrassment to notice how pink Morgana’s own cheeks have to be right now, and Morgana is just going to pretend this is all perfectly normal for them.

“Don’t tease, milady,” Gwen murmurs, gaze still downcast. “It isn’t kind.”

Without permission, Morgana finds her fingers trailing that strand of Gwen’s hair again, this time carrying on when she reaches her ear, stroking down Gwen’s jaw until she’s able to tip Gwen’s chin up. “I wouldn’t dream of it, Gwen,” she says, trying not to notice how soft Gwen’s skin is beneath her fingertips. “Promise.”

Gwen stays quiet, her reluctance to meet Morgana’s eyes gone, replaced by a gentle sort of assessment as she searches for any sign that Morgana is being less than genuine.

“I promise,” Morgana says again, careful to keep her expression light as she draws her hand back; any reluctance she may feel about doing so is hers and hers alone, and not something Gwen need ever be burdened by. “Lancelot’s a lucky man.”

At the mere mention of his name, Gwen breaks into a smile that turns her from just beautiful to truly transcendent, so happy that Morgana can’t even bring herself to feel jealous.

“Come on,” she says, standing up and sweeping a few stray petals from her skirt before offering Gwen a hand up. “He’ll be waiting for you.”

Gwen takes her hand, letting Morgana pull her to her feet. “And you’re sure I look okay?” she asks, the fantastically lovely smile faltering a little as her nerves start to peek through.

Because she knows how important today is to Gwen, Morgana doesn’t answer right away, instead taking a moment to look her up and down; her answer won’t change, no matter how long she looks, but she suspects Gwen will find it more reassuring if Morgana appears to consider the question rather than answering instinctively.

“You’re perfect,” Morgana says, meaning it absolutely: from the flowers woven through her hair to the embroidery on her dress to the strong, compassionate, wonderful woman inside it all, Gwen is perfect.

“Morgana…” Gwen’s blushing again, one hand lifting slightly as though she intends to untuck her hair from behind her ears to hide her face, only to remember the flowers and the fact that Morgana has not spent all this time styling her hair just for Gwen to ruin it before Lancelot even has the chance to admire it.

“Perfect,” Morgana repeats, her voice steady and her wishful, foolish heart kept hidden. “Now, stop dithering and be on your way.”

Gwen smiles, squeezes Morgana’s fingers in gratitude, and dashes off to meet up with Lancelot.


	3. Art: Nebula5030




	4. Fic: Spellbound316

Merlin watched as Morgana slipped out of the castle. They'd planned this out carefully, and nothing should go wrong. Morgana had left a note with an alibi, and Merlin had helped set a fake trail that fit the explanation. Now, in the dead of night, he watched until she disappeared into the shadows of the tree line.

**____________________________________________________________________________**

 "How could she do this!" Arthur was pacing again. "Why didn't she tell us?"

"Well, technically..."

"I don't care that she left a note, Merlin! She should have told us in person, and she should have taken some knights with her."

Merlin was about to reply when the knights that had been sent to follow her trail rode up to the castle without Morgana.

"This had better be good," Arthur stormed out and down to the throne room to hear the report with Merlin on his tail.

Leon entered first, with several other knights trailing behind. "Sire, we followed the trail until it ended. There was no sign of struggle, so our best guess is that the trail we followed was a fake and that the Lady Morgana actually left a different direction."

Uther didn't look happy. "If she's not going where she said she was, then we have no proof she wasn't taken under duress."

"I'll take a group of knights and try to find the real trail," Arthur said as he headed toward the doors. "Merlin, my bags better be packed within the hour."

____________________________________________________________________________

Once they found the right trail, Arthur was relentless in driving everyone. It was long after dark before he let them stop and make camp.

Merlin waited until it was past midnight before slipping away  and following his magic to the edge of the druids' camp. Keeping in the shadows, he crept around checking the tents for Morgana. When he found her, he hesitated before shaking her awake.

"Morgana, you need to wake up. The king thinks you've been kidnapped and Arthur is almost here with knights to save you!"

"No, Merlin, I can't go. I've finally found a place where I belong. I'm not alone here--do  you understand?"

"Better than anyone, but if you don't come back on your own, Arthur will attack the druids. You're the only one who can prevent that."

Just then one of the elder druids came into the tent, stopping short when he saw Merlin. After a pregnant pause, he addressed Morgana, "Our scouts have spotted knights in the woods not far from here. We need to leave now."

"You go on without me. I'm going to go back to the castle, at least for a little bit."

"Are you sure? You are always safe with us."

"Yes, but you are not safe with me. I have to go if I ever want to be able to come back."

"Alright. But go knowing you will be welcomed back. Our thoughts go with you."

"Thank you. And mine go with you."

The elder nodded his head to both of them before backing out of the tent.

Morgana turned to Merlin, "Lead the way."

____________________________________________________________________________

The townspeople cheered as they rode into the citadel. Uther came down the stairs to meet them as they stopped their horses in front of the main staircase before leading Morgana and Arthur away to a private room to discuss what had happened. After receiving Arthur's report, he turned to Morgana.

"I'm glad you made it home safely, but tell me, why did you leave in the first place?"

Having anticipated a question along these lines, she answered, "I just was starting to feel so trapped here in the castle, I needed to get away. Sometimes I feel so bound by rules and expectations that it feels like I can't breathe. You understand, don't you?" By the end her eyes had started filling with tears that, if she had been asked, she would have claimed were fake.

Uther's resolve crumbled in the face of Morgana's emotions, and he readily agreed with her to try and prevent the tears from falling. "I understand. Why don't you give the citadel a couple days to calm down, then you can take the afternoon off and go for a ride. You could even take a picnic. Just be sure that Arthur or one of the older knights goes with you."

Thanking him, Morgana and Arthur both left to their rooms.

____________________________________________________________________________

As promised, Morgana, Arthur, Merlin, and Gwen were heading into the woods on horseback, with blankets and sandwiches strapped to their saddles. Everyone was laughing and talking. They were almost to the field where they were going to have their picnic when bandits jumped out of the trees. Arthur had just beaten one when he heard a scream and turned to see Morgana being bucked off her horse. She stretched out her arms to catch herself, and he was worried that she would break both of them, when her eyes turned gold, slowing her fall, before fading back as she settled against the ground. Arthur knew what that light meant, but he refused to think about it until they had finished defeating the bandits. Then he turned and started approaching Morgana with his sword leveled at her.

"What were you thinking! Why would you learn magic? It's evil." Arthur didn't notice Merlin until he was standing in front of his sword.

"Arthur, it's not her fault!"

"No, that's why she snuck off earlier. So she could learn magic! How can you protect her?"

"Because magic isn't evil. And because I don't believe Morgana chose this. When would she have studied? You can't learn magic in a day, Arthur!"

"How would you know?"

Their shouts died away, leaving the two of them staring at each other out of breath. Up to this point Gwen had stood off to the side watching the exchange and catching her breath, but now she spoke up.

"Why don't we let Morgana explain for herself.

Arthur scowled but nodded in agreement with Gwen. He sheathed his sword and turned to retrieve the horses. While he was distracted, Merlin helped Morgana stand up and lean against a tree. The accidental use of magic had taken a lot of her energy. Gwen went to gather the packs that had been tossed off the horses.

Coming back together, they stared at each other in apprehension before making their way the last couple yards to the field they had initially been aiming for. Merlin helped Morgana sit down on a large rock. Arthur sat down opposite her and gave her a look that obviously said to start talking.

And she did. She explained about her nightmares, how they got worse no matter what she did. She talked about things happening, and everything she did to try and stop it. Then she talked about finding the druids, and how they never tried to hurt her, even though she was Uther's ward. She talked until she ran out of things to say, drifting off into silence.

Then Arthur turned to Merlin, "Why did you protect her? I thought you were scared of magic."

"I'm not scared of magic; I'm scared because of magic. I've been doing magic since before I could walk or talk. I never chose it. I would have told you, but I didn't want to die," Merlin tried to lighten the mood, but failed horribly.

Everyone looked at him in a mix of shock and betrayal.

"You didn't know?" Arthur gestured to Morgana, who shook her head no. It was obvious Arthur was getting too worked up, so Gwen took over the questioning.

"Why would you come to Camelot if you had magic? Wouldn't that have been the last place you would want to come?"

"Ealdor was too small. People got suspicious, and my mom didn't know who would sell me out to Cenred and who would kill me in the name of Uther. At least in Camelot no one suspected anything, and the rules were clear. Plus, Gaius was in Camelot."

With the explanations of the guilty parties out of the way, everyone turned to Arthur to see what he would do. After several moments, he got up and walked away without a word.

With nothing else to do, Gwen started getting out the picnic. No one ate much, but at least it took the place of talking. The tension was thick, especially with the occasional outburst coming from the direction Arthur had left in.

By the time Arthur made it back the tension was so thick you could cut it with a knife. Gwen and Morgana both looked like they were about to cry, and Merlin was so alert he flinched every time Arthur so much as bumped a leaf.

Everyone jumped when Arthur cleared his throat, "I'm not going to turn either of you in. If there's anyone who can prove that magic isn't evil, it's you two.  And if Merlin really has had magic since he was a baby, then it obviously doesn't corrupt either, or at least not enough to be worth death."

With that proclamation the tension bled out, leaving everyone relieved. Gwen turned to Morgana, "Can you show me something?"

"I don't actually know how to do anything. All the magic I've done up to this point has been accidental. But I'm sure Merlin could do something."

Merlin gave an almost carefree smile, glancing at Arthur for approval before putting his hand to the ground and pushing his magic into it. All around flowers began popping out of the grass, and vines with flowers began climbing the nearby trees. Everyone seemed quietly enchanted with this display until Gwen jumped up laughing and began to spin. This broke the spell, and soon everyone was talking and laughing. Morgana and Gwen began picking the flowers and braiding them into crowns for each other and the boys. It was late before they began heading back. Uther mentioned when they returned that they all seemed to be in good moods.

Morgana smiled, "Yes. This has been one of the best days of my life."

 

 

 

 

 

 

 


	5. Art: Nezumon




	6. Team 4

Again a big thank you to all of the member of Team 4! In order, the members are:

 

1\. [Grumpycakes](grumpycakes.tumblr.com)

2\. [EachPeachPearPlum](https://archiveofourown.org/users/EachPeachPearPlum/pseuds/EachPeachPearPlum)

3\. [Nebula5030](https://archiveofourown.org/users/Nebula5030/pseuds/Nebula5030)

4\. [Spellbound316](https://archiveofourown.org/users/spellboundreader316/pseuds/spellboundreader316)

5\. Nezumon

 

Thank you for reading, and please keep an eye out for more MerlinWATGame teams!


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